India, Feb. 11 -- A 27-year-old software engineer died in January when his car veered off the road and fell into a deep, water-filled excavation pit on a vacant plot in Noida. Jump to early February, when a 25-year-old man slipped into a pit dug for sewer repairs in Delhi's Janakpuri and remained trapped for eight hours before dying, reportedly due to "asphyxiation". Now, another case has emerged where a daily wage labourer lost his life after falling into an open manhole in Rohini's Sector 32 in Delhi.

These three recent deaths point to civic negligence, where open pits and uncovered manholes led to the deaths of people. In some cases, delayed responses have also raised concern, not only among authorities but also among some bystanders....